What is your narrowest runway?

Stingray Don

Stingray Don

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Stingray Don
Okay, I'll admit that I am a little spoiled with the airports I have flown into. I am accustomed to 75' - 100' wide runways in excellent condition. So today I thought I would try something different and flew out to Boone County airport (6I4). It is long but only 30' wide and in poor condition. This was the narrowest runway in my area. All went well but that sight picture sure was different! I wouldn't want to try it during a stiff crosswind.

So 30' is now my narrowest. What's yours?
 
Orlando North, 50'. Did it once in a stiff x-wind with controls at full deflection.

30' could be quite a challenge with any x-wind.
 
Davis has 25' of paved area but it's a little wider than that on the grass.
 
.

I haven't had the pleasure of landing there, but AirPark Dallas has to be on the list of Oh, **** places to put 'er down. :D

Just out of view in this photo of Runway 34 looking north is the approach to Runway 16, which is over a golf course, a shopping mall, and six lane Park Blvd. The description of the runway isn't confidence inspiring either. :D

Dimensions: 3080 x 30 ft. / 939 x 9 m
Surface: asphalt, in poor condition
PAVEMENT CRACKING, LOOSE STONES ON RY.
Click to expand...

01831.jpg
 
40 feet with the jets, 20 feet with my Maule.

Well, the 20' strip was technically 60' wide until my aunt planted tree rows 20' apart. I had to quit doing that when they got tall enough to brush the leading edges.
 
Landed the 310 on 1900x25 once. Tip tanks were bouncing over the bushes.
 
In an effort to avoid VFR into IMC, I landed (and subsequently departed) a 40' wide runway with 4' tall sagebrush all the way up to both sides of the runway in my 24' span RV-6.
 
Landed on the taxieay at Eagle Creek once. They were striping the runway. This was my dads first trip with me right after I got my ppl. He looks at me and asks, why aren't you landing on the runway

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
 
SJC used to have a third runway, to the SW of the two main runways, that was 25 or 30 feet. Hated it.
 
3393RP said:
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I haven't had the pleasure of landing there, but AirPark Dallas has to be on the list of Oh, **** places to put 'er down. :D

Just out of view in this photo of Runway 34 looking north is the approach to Runway 16, which is over a golf course, a shopping mall, and six lane Park Blvd. The description of the runway isn't confidence inspiring either. :D



01831.jpg
Click to expand...

I have landed at Airpark Dallas twice. It's definitely the most narrow I've ever landed on. There's no reason to ever go there
 
50'. But let's not go with absolute distance... how 'bout percentage of what you're used to. In that case, I went from 150ft (hsv) to 50 (20ga), so I'm on 1/3 of my usual width (and length, now that I calculate it out).

Oddly, I'm fine with that. It's the landing in the rectangle shaped hole in the middle of all those trees that's ... interesting. I need to mount a camera on the outside and show the approach. On short final the trees are trimmed in a slope. I know y'all regularly land on mountains and such, but this is pretty exciting for me.
 
3GV - East Kansas City

http://www.airnav.com/airport/3GV

2206x20

--

I landed at Gilmore (Pleasanton, KS) 57K, since closed:
2870 x 35 feet

https://skyvector.com/airport/57K/Gilmore-Airport

That was an adventure. I was with my CFI and I and an engine "failure" nearby so I went ahead and glided it in. Probably shouldn't have. I coasted to S/W end of the rwy and there were some collapsed sheds and falling down hangars, weeds about waist hight everywhere, and the tattered remains of what had been a windsock. I waited for the banjo music, but even the banjo players had abandoned the place. I turned around and taxied back to the N/E end to take off again, but there was no turn-around at that end. I tried turning around on the rwy, but I didn't think I had enough room to do it without putting a wheel off the pavement, and I didn't like the looks of things. So I shut it down, climbed out and pushed the plane around until it was lined up for takeoff. Before I climbed back in, I "had to know" so I checked the grass next to the rwy. Sure enough, there was a slight ditch on either edge - If a wheel had gone off the edge of the pavement, I probably would have ended up with a prop strike and an even worse story.
 
Hey, it's 38' instead of 50' (for me). Still nothin' compared to y'all, but check this out... back when I landed there (early 90's) one of the UMR professors apparently came up with an alternative to traditional asphalt called "glassphalt". Now read what airnav says about it:

Surface: asphalt, in poor condition
RY 09/27 GLASSPHALT COATING DETERIORATING AND GLASS CHIPS ARE BECOMING LOOSE. GRASS AND WEEDS GROWING IN CRACKS ON RY.

http://airnav.com/airport/K07

:eek:
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I have landed at Airpark Dallas twice...There's no reason to ever go there
Click to expand...

It has been noted it took you TWO trips to figure that out.
One to scout the location, the second to do the shoot? We await the video with eager anticipation...;)
 
Mistake Not... said:
Hey, it's 38' instead of 50' (for me). Still nothin' compared to y'all, but check this out... back when I landed there (early 90's) one of the UMR professors apparently came up with an alternative to traditional asphalt called "glassphalt". Now read what airnav says about it:

Surface: asphalt, in poor condition
RY 09/27 GLASSPHALT COATING DETERIORATING AND GLASS CHIPS ARE BECOMING LOOSE. GRASS AND WEEDS GROWING IN CRACKS ON RY.

http://airnav.com/airport/K07

:eek:
Click to expand...
Yep - and be very careful about landing into the setting sun. I walked that rwy one time, in the evening, and was nearly blinded, then I heard the same thing from a buddy of mine that landed there one late afternoon.
 
Matthew said:
3GV - East Kansas City

http://www.airnav.com/airport/3GV

2206x20

--

I landed at Gilmore (Pleasanton, KS) 57K, since closed:
2870 x 35 feet

https://skyvector.com/airport/57K/Gilmore-Airport

That was an adventure. I was with my CFI and I and an engine "failure" nearby so I went ahead and glided it in. Probably shouldn't have. I coasted to S/W end of the rwy and there were some collapsed sheds and falling down hangars, weeds about waist hight everywhere, and the tattered remains of what had been a windsock. I waited for the banjo music, but even the banjo players had abandoned the place. I turned around and taxied back to the N/E end to take off again, but there was no turn-around at that end. I tried turning around on the rwy, but I didn't think I had enough room to do it without putting a wheel off the pavement, and I didn't like the looks of things. So I shut it down, climbed out and pushed the plane around until it was lined up for takeoff. Before I climbed back in, I "had to know" so I checked the grass next to the rwy. Sure enough, there was a slight ditch on either edge - If a wheel had gone off the edge of the pavement, I probably would have ended up with a prop strike and an even worse story.
Click to expand...

I concur as I landed at Gilmore once before it closed. Also landed at 1KS right after it opened.
 
TommyTBone said:
I was going to say Parr (42i) at 3,100' x 27' until I saw your post. I've been to Roosterville! Been quite a while though.
Click to expand...

The hump on the approach end of 18 is "entertaining."
 
3O8 - Harris Ranch, California. 2800x30. If you botch the landing, there'll be plenty of an audience for it. It's just a few yards from I-5.
 
Brighton, 45G. Although over 3000 feet long, the pavement is only 24 feet wide.
 
Stopped at E98 - Mid Valley Airpark south of Albuquerque on the way back from Oshkosh 2017.
37'x 4332'

Seems long but leaving on a hot afternoon puts DA well over 8K' which means you use a good bit of it departing.

But fuel is cheap there....

Back in the 80's I was a lineboy at Morey Field in Middleton, Wi. Don't remember the exact details but it had a tiny little strip of blacktop that kept you honest. It was all redone a few years ago.
 
We LAB boys called it Glacier Point....just south of Haines AK, we would fly the tourons in there from the cruise ships at Haines or Skagway. Don5 know how narrow it was, but it was narrow.
 

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My current home airport is 40' though I seem to recall a 30' somewhere but can't recall where. So, we'll just say 40'.
 
Learned how to fly on 2600x35, but it was in a champ so it's a little bigger in a champ lol

The river I land on is probably 70ish, but once I'm off step with the rudders down I only probably have 20' to work with till I get to the deep part by the house.
 
What is the definition for runway?

I have done off airport work, landed on a dirt roads as well as beaches that have a definite slope towards the water.

I once landed in a clearing in Alaska looking for a specific persons landing strip..... but where I landed was an area some people cleared out to build a cabin on..... ooops.

For a paved runway.... 30 feet. And it was a private strip before it was closed.
 
I know for sure, 40'. But I seem to recall a 35' in there somewhere. Probably the time I diverted for weather into a crop duster strip in north Texas. Will have to look that one up.

Hanging wingtips over the edge doesn't bother me if they've kept the crap from growing on either side. And of course mostly high-wing for me too, which helps.
 
When I was learning to fly I used to land the school 150s on the Mississippi River levees (single lane dirt road with a steep dropoff on each side). But I was 17 years old and immortal then...
 
I believe it was 30 feet.... in a jet.

The small one at PWK. The main runway was closed.
 
Fairview International, on the border between the Carolinas. Up in the foothills. 2770 x 30, canted noticeably uphill. Here's the Airnav description:

RY 14/32 IS VERY BUMPY WITH EXCESSIVE PATCHES ALONG ENTIRE SURFACE LENGTH.

Oh, it's right pattern to 14, to keep the noisy planes away from the big houses and the horses. But its an easy 10 minute drive to see Mom and Dad.

It's interesting the first cohole of times, watching everything bounce along under the wingtips of the Mooney! :confused:
 
308 Harris Ranch Airport as previously mentioned 2820 by 30. No taxiway so you have to taxi back to take off.
 
Rose field down by hickory Ms. 16 feet wide asphalt with a crook in it around a pond. But then grass on both sides as well. But I took the asphalt..
 
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